Learn How to Make and Use Podcasts

As discussed in an earlier post, a podcast is an audio file that is broadcast over the web. Incorporating podcasts into your web sites has many benefits. It enables you to distribute audio/video content in addition to printed materials, like brochures or normal web content. It brings personality and interest to things like tutorials, success stories, and even sales pitches. One of the greatest benefits a podcast offers is portability. Those viewing your information no longer have to be tied to the desk for information. They can now carry it with them as they move around, on the go!

How can you produce your own podcasts? Let’s take a look.

Preproduction
Before thinking of stepping up to the microphone, much planning must be done. Preproduction takes over three-quarters of the time to produce a podcast. First keep the audience in mind. Who will listen to the podcast? Determining who exactly the audience is should help focus the podcast. The podcast will need a name. The more creative, the better! In preproduction, you must also decide upon the format for the podcast. Who will actually be heard in the recording? Should you have a host? What segments do you plan for the show? Perhaps you will want to share book reviews, conduct interviews or training. When planning, consider the length of your podcast. This will be based on your content and audience.

Recording
Recording will be a much quicker process if you have practiced what you plan to say before taping. It doesn't matter what platform or application you use to record the audio. One option is Audacity. It's open source, cross-platform, free and allows for mixing together multiple audio files. For the Macintosh platform, GarageBand is a popular choice which is also free. Many tutorials on Audacity and GarageBand can be found by Googling.

After recording, save your finished audio show at maximum quality in the native format of your audio application. That way you can go back and edit it or reuse it and you'll have a good version. Convert the file to MP3 format. Make sure you save it with a .mp3 file extension. The article Saving MP3 Files for Podcasting has more detailed information. Publish your MP3 file to your web server, and test them with any MP3 player. Create the RSS feed to your podcast.